As known, electrical power systems deliver power to consumers using an interconnected arrangement of transmission lines, distribution feeders, electrical equipments etc. Power distribution systems are typically configured so that electrical power can be supplied by two or more alternative sources, although only one source can supply the network at a given instant, and can be the supplied to loads over more than one path within the network. Configuring a power distribution system in this manner reduces the potential for a single-point fault to leave large numbers of loads or users without electrical power upon occurrence of electrical faults. To this end, known power systems are equipped with different types of cooperating switching devices, namely circuit breakers or reclosers, i.e. devices capable to intervene and interrupt the flow of power upon occurrence of a fault, and sectionalizers or disconnectors, i.e. devices which are not designed to intervene and clear an electrical fault but are devised to isolate faulted sections of a feeder once the fault is cleared by the intervention of a recloser (or of a circuit breaker).
For example, when a fault is detected, reclosers are adapted to trip thereby interrupting the flow of electrical power and clearing the fault condition on at least a temporary basis. In particular, a typical recloser is adapted to close after a predetermined interval of time to restore the flow of electrical power into the network. Transient-type faults may be cleared by repeated open close operations of a recloser thus eliminating prolonged power outages and unnecessary service interventions. When instead the fault persists, the recloser intervening remains locked in the open position and a sectionalizer isolates the faulted section of the network. Hence, the section of the network having a fault therein is de-energized and isolated so that other non-faulted sections of the network can possibly be re-energized and the associated loads re-supplied as quickly as possible. In order to achieve such a result in an optimized and effective way, it would be desirable to provide a solution able to adapt the architecture of the power system to the contingent conditions occurred and to restore power to as many loads as possible from alternative sources or even from the same source following an alternative path, in an efficient, safe and reliable way.